The present invention pertains to the field of browser software for browsing the World Wide Web. More particularly, the present invention relates to audio functions in a Web browser.
The number of homes and businesses using personal computers has increased substantially in recent years, and along with this increase has come an explosion in the use of the Internet, and particularly the World-Wide Web (xe2x80x9cthe Webxe2x80x9d). The Web is a collection of formatted hypertext pages located on numerous computers around the world that are logically connected by the Internet. Although xe2x80x9cthe Webxe2x80x9d has in the past been a source of primarily scientific and technical information, it is now a valuable resource for information relating to almost any subject, including business, entertainment, travel, and education, to name just a few. Advances in network technology, and especially in software such as xe2x80x9cWeb browsersxe2x80x9d (software applications which provide a user interface to the Web), have made the Web accessible to a large segment of the population. However, despite the growth in the development and use of the Web, many people are still unable to take advantage of this important resource.
Access to the Web has been limited to people who have access to a personal computer. Yet some people cannot afford the cost of even a relatively inexpensive personal computer, while others are unable or unwilling to learn the basic computer skills that are required to access the Web. Furthermore, Web browsers in the prior art generally do not provide the degree of user-friendliness desired by some people who lack computer experience, and many computer novices do not have the patience to learn how to use the software. Some people, for example, dislike an interface which requires them to identify hypertext objects and use the point-and-click technique to browse through Web pages.
Most people, however, feel quite comfortable using a remote control to operate a television set. Therefore, it would be desirable to allow a person to access the World-Wide Web without the use of a personal computer. In particular, it would be desirable for a person to be able to access and navigate through Web pages using an ordinary television set and a remote control. It would further be desirable to have a user interface by which a person can use a remote control to navigate between hypertext objects on a Web page with minimal effort or thought, so that a person feels more as if he or she is simply changing television channels rather than utilizing a complex computer network.
Another problem associated with Web browsers is that they tend to provide minimal audio functionality. Audio files linked to Web pages are becoming increasingly more common. Although some Web browsers may provide capability to download and play audio files, they generally do not provide capability to manipulate audio data to any significant extent. In addition, Web browser user interfaces generally are not set up to facilitate audio functionality.
A method is provided of processing audio information in a client processing system that is capable of being coupled to a server processing system over a network and is capable of being coupled to an audio output device. In the method, a first audio sequence is output via the audio output device based on a first audio file stored in the client processing system. A second audio file, which represents a second audio sequence that is to be output following output of the first audio sequence, is downloaded into the client processing system from the network while the first audio sequence is being output. The second audio file is transmitted from the server processing system to the client processing system over the network.
Another aspect of the present invention is a method of providing a user interface for controlling audio functions of a client processing system. The client processing system is coupled to a server processing system over a network and to a display device. In the method, audio information is downloaded from the network, and an audio control panel is displayed on the display device. The audio control panel includes a number of images, each of which is for activating one of a number of audio functions for manipulating the downloaded audio information.
Other features of the present invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and from the detailed description which follows.